198
WILLIAM GILBERT
were a point operating by itself. But it pays regard to the whole, both its mass, and its outer limits; the forces of both uniting, as well of the magnetick versorium as of the earth.
*
CHAP. VII.
Explanation of the diagram of the rotation of
a magnetick needle.
uppose A C D L to be the body of the earth or of a terrella, its centre M, Æquator A D, Axis C L, A B the Horizon, which changes according to the place. From the point F on a Horizon distant from the æquator A by the length of C M, the semi-diameter of the earth or terrella, an arc is described to H as the limit of the quadrants of declination; for all